ByThen Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.” — Matthew 18:21 - 22 NKJV
We live with imperfect and different sorts of people. And sometimes, we think everyone is like us. So we make up some unrealistic expectations of others to behave like how we want them, which is not the case many times. That’s why offences come. In fact, it’s written in Luke 17:1 that it’s impossible that offences won’t come. That means that no matter who you are, you’ll be offended. Nevertheless, how you respond when you get offended is significant.
Peter, once confused about this issue, asked Jesus how many times he had to forgive his offender. He thought Jesus would say seven times. But Jesus exceeded Peter’s expected answer. He said to Peter that you must forgive your offender seventy times seven. That’s four hundred and ninety times. Interesting!
How you respond when you get offended is significant.
Let’s do some calculations here. There are 1440 minutes in one day (60 minutes by 24 hours). So when you divide 1440 by 490, it’s approximately 3. That means, as a believer, you’ve got to forgive someone’s fault against you, including the undeserving ones, every three minutes daily, no matter how hurt you are. And we all know that someone can’t offend you every three minutes each day because you’ll take some hours out of the 24 hours to sleep rest. In other words, Jesus has raised the highest standard of forgiveness that nobody can have any excuse for holding grudges in one’s heart.
Now, this teaching especially goes to people in relationships, whether dating or marriage, because it’s in those kinds of connections that offences are more rampant. Jesus is saying in Matthew 18:22 that if your partner or spouse offends you multiple times, even in a day, choose to forgive the person with a loving heart.
Learn to forgive your offender. No person is God. Don’t depend on another person to give you happiness. Depend on God to fill you with His joy so that you can dispense His joy in you to others without expecting returns.
You’re a blessing.
Prayer
Oh God, I receive grace to keep forgiving people who offend me. I renounce any offence I’ve retained in my heart. Just as Your Son died to cleanse all my sins, so today, I reflect on that revelation to keep my heart free of offences. In the name of Jesus. Amen!
Devotional Code: KGD // 2022 – 311
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